QUICK FIX FRIDAY: LONG SLEEVE TO SHORT SLEEVE REFASHION

I bought this top a couple of years ago from Target when I instantly fell in love with the windowpane print. I wore it a few times, but it never seemed to look right and I couldn’t put my finger on what I didn’t like about it. Then a few weeks ago I saw a similar shirt online, but it was short sleeved. Duh! I instantly knew what was the problem with this shirt, and that it needed short sleeves right away. I’m not a big long sleeve wearer, so chopping off a foot of each sleeve was just what it needed to make this shirt more me. And now I’ve worn it more in two weeks than I have in two years.

This is a super quick and easy fix you can do to shorten your sleeves. This works with any length of sleeve, and you can shorten them one inch or twenty inches — it’s all the same method!

Step 1. Try your shirt on and determine how long you want your sleeves. Mark with a pin.

Step 2. Carefully remove your shirt and lay it flat on the floor with the sleeves as flat and smooth as possible. Using a straight edge ruler and rotary cutter (scissors work fine too), cut the sleeve one inch below your marking point. Make sure the angle of your cut matches the original hem. Repeat for the second sleeve.

Step 3. Turn your shirt inside out fold the hem of the sleeve up half and inch, and then again another half an inch. Pin in place. Then turn right side out again and sew around the sleeve with a wide straight stitch. Repeat for the second sleeve.

Step 4. Press and you’re done!

Now the fun part is going through your closet and deciding which shirts to chop!! If you use this tutorial (or any of my tutorials), post a picture on social media and tag me @merricksart so I can see!

I have this shirt and have to agree, the sleeves are a little off. I always have to roll them to make it look right. I don’t know if I’m brave enough (or confident enough in my sewing skills) to make the chop. Looks great with short sleeves!